If you have kept up with the NFL at all this offseason, you have seen that the league is sending a very clear, if not harsh, message to running backs: you don't matter. 

Is it as black and white as that? Probably not, but it is fair to say that is the general sentiment when it comes to contracts, trades, and general allocations to the position.

If teams like the Colts are willing to let players like Jonathan Taylor, a former All-Pro, to seek a trade, it tells you everything you need to know about their leverage in the situation. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers need to stay away.

Jonathan Taylor might be one of the best running backs in the league when healthy. Look at how much that helped the Colts during his time with the team.

The best Colts season during the Taylor era was his second-best. In Taylor's best season, the year where he was nearly unstoppable on the ground, Indy finished one game above .500 and didn't make a playoff appearance.

Good running backs simply don't move the needle. Good running backs on bad contracts just move the needle in the wrong direction.

That is why the Colts are fine letting a guy like Taylor seek a trade. The Colts know that no good team is willing to shell out a ton of picks for Taylor after he has already made it clear that he wants a large contract.

This will then show Taylor that he has next to no market, just like every other back in the league, and it will then force him to stay with Indy on a lesser contract.

The Colts were smart to make this move. However, every other team might not be as smart.

There are still teams in the NFL that mistakenly believe the run matters as much or more than the pass. The Buccaneers appear to be one such team, and Todd Bowles will need to fight his instincts and stay far away from Taylor.

The Bucs simply have one of the worst run schemes in the NFL. Between a coaching staff that has smartly prioritized the pass in the past and a roster that was constructed with the pass in mind (again, smartly), this group was never built to be wildly successful in this element of the attack.

However, after two preseason games, it looks like the rushing attack will still be a priority despite its weakness in 2023, and that could be the one reason why Taylor gets any looks from the Bucs.

Still, this wouldn't actually solve the problem. Taylor is great, but he can't run without quality run lanes. All-Pros can't do well when every defense in the league is keying in on a first-down run at the start of every drive.

Even Barry Sanders would get clobbered in the backfield with this coaching staff and predictability of the rushing attack.

The Bucs don't need expensive, new running backs to save their offense. What they need is a dedication to the pass to open the run up.

Establishing the run doesn't exist. Establishing the pass does.

Once Tampa figures this out, Baker Mayfield and the passing attack can create lighter boxes for Rachaad White and Sean Tucker to exploit at will. It wouldn't require Taylor.

The good news for the Bucs is that a move like this does seem very unlikely, but if there was one coach that could throw away all conventional though for his own stubborn scheme, it would be Todd Bowles.

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